Platter with a coat of arms of `Leliva`

The porcelain manufactory in Baranówka was founded in 1804 by Michał Mezer, who had previously worked in Korzec. After he died in 1820, the management was taken over by his nephews, and in later years it changed owners several times before passing into Russian hands at the end of the 19th century.

The plate was originally a part of a dinner service made on an individual order, as evidenced by a painted coat of arms. Reading the coat of arms makes it possible to identify the first owner. Leliwa is an old, medieval coat of arms, used for sealing by over eight hundred families in Poland and Lithuania over the centuries. An additional clue is provided by the count's crown placed above the coat of arms. In 1829, when the plate was made, the title was held by only a few families, among which the Tarnowskis deserve special attention. The illustrious family had many eminent personalities, among them Hetman Jan Tarnowski, who received the hereditary title of Count from the Emperor Charles V Habsburg in 1547. The depictions of orders provide further identification. The only Leliwa holder who could boast of such a set of decorations was Count Marcin Tarnowski (1778-1862). He was an extremely colourful character – a landowner, soldier, patriot and exile. At the age of 16, he took part in the Kościuszko Uprising, then fought in Napoleon's army, and next in the army of the Duchy of Warsaw. Having settled on his estate in Volhynia, he was active in the Patriotic Society, which cost him prison and exile deep into Russia. Upon his return, he was widely respected, and became the speaker of the nobility of the Krzemieniec district. As the highest authority he always appealed against the verdicts of arbitration courts in the whole of Volhynia. He spent the end of his life in Kraków, where he was buried in Rakowicki Cemetery.

Barbara Czajkowska